something that's been bugging me for some time:
in my opinion all bands/singers/musicians with ideas express themselves at their best during the early stages of their career. perhaps their first records are too naive or cliched, but once they have reached maturity, they put out a couple of very good works then start repeating themselves or making clumsy attempts at trying directions they never were made to tread.
the following albums can still be good, even very good at times, but in terms of creativity they really lack that certain something that sets excellent craftmanship apart from conceptual innovation.
the way i see it, there are no exceptions to this rule, maybe not even dark tranquillity, despite being my favourite band and all. i'll try to present some examples of my point of view so that you can relate to sensible data in expressing your opinion.
i'm about to mention metal bands because that's what you're most likely interested in, but i'm not singling them out. so if you think the latest album by in flames is actually their best effort, don't flame me for suggesting otherwise because i was trying to prove something entirely different from a single band's worth.
iron maiden -- their most ground-breaking stuff seems to be in the number of the beast and powerslave. if we accept that earlier they were brilliant but rough, and later they've become overly monotonous, the apex of their career is already a long time ago. "hallowed be thy name" can be seen as fathering everything that followed from "alexander the great" to "afraid to shoot strangers" to "blood brothers". one might like the later songs better nowadays, but the original idea is still the one they used back in 1982. and have they come up with anything as creative as that after 1985?
in flames -- the jester race, then a pretty good swan song with whoracle, then it's over. all melodically enticing guitar riffs already played, all power-metallish combinations of growls and uptempos already tried.
dark tranquillity -- here i'm a bit uncertain about the number of really creative albums, but the outcome seems to be similar nonetheless. there were certainly earth-shattering ideas in skydancer and the mind's i and projector, so maturity came early and creativity lasted a long time. but are haven and damage done on that same level of furious shooting out of new ideas? i'm going to be honest: they're not.
they've got better production, craftmanship, more appeal in the light of today's tastes, great songwriting, an abundance of intelligent concepts and realization, but do they have a whole new range of song ideas? they don't.
that's it, i'd like to hear your opinion on if/when/why bands and artists' tide of creativity ever ebbs.
rahvin.
in my opinion all bands/singers/musicians with ideas express themselves at their best during the early stages of their career. perhaps their first records are too naive or cliched, but once they have reached maturity, they put out a couple of very good works then start repeating themselves or making clumsy attempts at trying directions they never were made to tread.
the following albums can still be good, even very good at times, but in terms of creativity they really lack that certain something that sets excellent craftmanship apart from conceptual innovation.
the way i see it, there are no exceptions to this rule, maybe not even dark tranquillity, despite being my favourite band and all. i'll try to present some examples of my point of view so that you can relate to sensible data in expressing your opinion.
i'm about to mention metal bands because that's what you're most likely interested in, but i'm not singling them out. so if you think the latest album by in flames is actually their best effort, don't flame me for suggesting otherwise because i was trying to prove something entirely different from a single band's worth.
iron maiden -- their most ground-breaking stuff seems to be in the number of the beast and powerslave. if we accept that earlier they were brilliant but rough, and later they've become overly monotonous, the apex of their career is already a long time ago. "hallowed be thy name" can be seen as fathering everything that followed from "alexander the great" to "afraid to shoot strangers" to "blood brothers". one might like the later songs better nowadays, but the original idea is still the one they used back in 1982. and have they come up with anything as creative as that after 1985?
in flames -- the jester race, then a pretty good swan song with whoracle, then it's over. all melodically enticing guitar riffs already played, all power-metallish combinations of growls and uptempos already tried.
dark tranquillity -- here i'm a bit uncertain about the number of really creative albums, but the outcome seems to be similar nonetheless. there were certainly earth-shattering ideas in skydancer and the mind's i and projector, so maturity came early and creativity lasted a long time. but are haven and damage done on that same level of furious shooting out of new ideas? i'm going to be honest: they're not.
they've got better production, craftmanship, more appeal in the light of today's tastes, great songwriting, an abundance of intelligent concepts and realization, but do they have a whole new range of song ideas? they don't.
that's it, i'd like to hear your opinion on if/when/why bands and artists' tide of creativity ever ebbs.
rahvin.
and find the new album cool.
